


Aesthetic Dissonances

by Aeshna_cyanea



Series: Forgiveness [3]
Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: F/M, Feelings, Fluff, Gen, Lucifer displays restraint, Lucifer has chronic foot-in-mouth disease, Lucifer is easily distracted, Lucifer tries to be a good friend, Lucifer's self-preservation instinct kicks in, Maze can't believe it, Maze does not want any favors, Maze is defensive, Maze is not amused, Slice of Life, a plan is formulated, and one Hell of a bed, gratuitous art nouveau, interior design problems, neither is good at dealing with feelings, one Hell of a bedroom, two clueless supernatural beings trying to negotiate a friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2020-02-26 15:13:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 20,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18719626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aeshna_cyanea/pseuds/Aeshna_cyanea
Summary: Maze has run into a problem with her new home. She asks Lucifer for help.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Another prompt fill for my LuciferBingo bingo card.  
> Prompt: couch
> 
> (Hey, it didn't say it had to be Lucifer's couch, now did it?)

“Lucifer?”  
  
The Devil looked up in surprise as the familiar voice echoed through the penthouse. He set aside the documents he was studying and went to the door of his private office, poking his head out into the corridor and calling out to his demon: “I’m here, Maze.”  
  
Seconds later, her familiar form appeared at the other end of the passage, approaching rapidly.  
  
“Ah there you are.” She brushed past him and stepped into the office, surveying the heap of documents on his desk with a raised eyebrow. “Don’t tell me you’re actually doing your own paperwork.”  
  
“Not quite. I’m trying to find a new accountant. Preferably one who doesn’t try to steal from me this time.”  
  
“What?! Dionne tried to steal from you?” Maze was staring at him incredulously. Dionne had been her recommendation when she decided to stop working at Lux and taking care of the club’s books.  
  
Lucifer hastened to correct the misconception. “No, no, not Dionne. The guy I hired to replace her.”  
  
That got him an accusing glare. “You replaced Dionne?”  
  
“Not by choice, I assure you. I would have loved to have her continue in my employment indefinitely, but she and her partner got married two months ago and decided to move to New Zealand.” He shrugged. “Apparently Dionne has an aunt there whose husband died not too long ago. He owned some sort of company, and the aunt found it difficult to run it on her own. She offered Dionne and her newlywed wife the chance to take the whole thing over.”  
  
A soft smile turned up the corners of his mouth. “I’m sure the happy couple will be very successful in their endeavor. I wished them every luck and gave them a few contacts that may prove helpful.”  
  
He saw his demon relax as the character of her recommended accountant was cleared, but after a moment Maze’s brows drew together in a frown. “Didn’t Dionne recommend a replacement?”  
  
Lucifer smiled deprecatingly. “She did, but unfortunately it turned out that the woman in question had a husband who was very much opposed to her coming to work for me.”  
  
Maze smirked. “Worried that you were going to seduce his wife?”  
  
“I think he was more worried that I might tell her about the things he had enjoyed doing with me on a number of occasions.” He smiled wryly as his demon broke into pealing laughter.  
  
“That is so typical!” Maze shook her head and turned serious again. “You could have asked me for recommendations again.”  
  
Lucifer nodded, but didn’t say anything. He suspected they both knew why he hadn’t asked her. All that mattered now was that he wouldn’t make the same mistake again. Otherwise, this particular subject was better avoided. He cast around for something else to talk about, and decided to go for the obvious.  
  
“I’m sure you didn’t come here to listen to me going on about my little accountant problem. So, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?”  
  
Apparently, this was not a good choice. Maze’s expression darkened and her lips twisted as though she tasted something unpleasant. She remained silent, staring down at the papers on his desk, avoiding his gaze. Finally, she drew back her shoulders and said: “I want your help with something.”  
  
Lucifer’s eyebrows rose in surprise, and hope blossomed in his chest. Ever since the Detective’s offspring had helped him apologize to his demon, he had been waiting for a chance to do something for her to prove that he cared about her.  
  
And while he had seen Maze several times since that fateful afternoon, all those occasions except the last one had been at the instigation of the little parasite, and consequently involved the three of them.  
  
He had been invited to another babysitting date at the Detective’s apartment, and come away with only a moderate loss of dignity when the devious little spawn roped them into playing Truth or Dare with her. The afternoon spent at a dojo belonging to one of Maze’s friends had ended with a couple of bruises, and given him a healthy respect for the small human’s self-defense skills. And he had survived their trip to the zoo, though he wouldn’t say that he had enjoyed it.  
  
But at no point during those activities had there been any opportunity to do something nice for Maze alone.  
  
He had hoped for such a chance when she showed up at Lux last Saturday, and taken the opportunity to sing a series of her favorite songs for her. And she did appear to appreciate that. But she had declined his invitation to have a more private party up at his penthouse, and instead amused herself dancing with various humans for a few hours before leaving with two of the other guests. That had left a bitter taste in his mouth and spoiled his mood for the rest of the night.  
  
But now she had come to him and was actually requesting his help.  
  
“You shall have it. What can I do for you? Do you require my assistance with one of your bounty hunts? Is someone refusing to give you the information you need and you want me to pull the truth out of him? Or perhaps you need a skilled man for a threesome?”  
  
“No.” Maze shot him a quelling look when he opened his mouth to voice further suggestions. “It’s nothing like that.”  
  
She remained silent for several seconds, shifting uneasily. At last she seemed to steel herself, and spoke. “It’s my new place. There’s something… off about it. And I can’t figure it out on my own.”  
  
Lucifer was intrigued. “Off in what way?”  
  
Maze growled in frustration. “I don’t know, okay? If I knew I wouldn’t need help. It’s just… off. Wrong somehow. But I can’t pinpoint it.”  
  
“Okay, just off. Can you describe it a bit more in detail?”  
  
“No I can’t.” She glared at him. “You’ll have to come and see for yourself.” Her glare turned up a notch. “Unless of course you have more important things to do.”  
  
“No!”  
  
Lucifer saw Maze’s eyebrows shoot up at his vehement denial, and bit back a curse. The last thing he needed right now was her getting distrustful and suspecting the worst of him. Demons were all naturally paranoid, and Maze was actually exceptionally level-headed for a demon. But believing everyone had ulterior motives still came naturally to her. If she got it into her head now that he was trying to hide something from her or trick her somehow, she would most likely break this whole thing off and refuse any help from him.  
  
“I don’t have anything more important to do, Maze. Nothing could be more important than helping my oldest friend.”  
  
Her lips twisted at the last word, and he suppressed a sigh. It was clear that he had a long way to go before Maze would be willing to forgive and forget his past behavior.  
  
It was also clear that his declaration had not been enough to stop her budding suspicions. Lucifer quickly cast around for something else to say.  
  
“To be honest, I’m glad for a distraction right now. You know studying CVs and interviewing prospective employees is not my thing.” He saw her suspicious look ease a bit and risked a deprecating grin. “Besides, you don’t think I’d pass up the chance to be the first to get a look at your new abode, do you?”  
  
Maze’s posture relaxed and the suspicion cleared from her expression. She obviously considered this an admission of his ulterior motive. Not that she was wrong there. Lucifer was curious to see what kind of home his demon had chosen for herself. It was just that he was also interested in helping her in his ongoing quest to prove to her that he had changed.  
  
She rolled her eyes at him. “Of course not. Come on then.”  
  
The demon turned and left the room without a backwards glance, and Lucifer hastily grabbed his suit jacket from the back of his chair and followed her. By the time he caught up with her she was just stepping into the elevator. He lost no time in joining her.  
  
Maze’s car was standing in the underground garage next to the Corvette. She got behind the wheel and waited impatiently as Lucifer climbed into the passenger seat. He had barely closed the door before the car shot out of its parking space and - after an abrupt change from reverse into drive - roared up the ramp to the street.


	2. Chapter 2

The drive was shorter than anticipated, even taking into account Maze’s reckless driving style. Instead of heading for a residential or even mixed neighborhood, Maze drove them into a purely industrial area. Lucifer’s eyebrows rose when she pulled up in front of a large sliding door in the side of a warehouse and fished a remote control out of her pocket.

He studied the building while they waited for the door to open sufficiently to admit the car. It looked like a medium sized warehouse, two storeys high but with some sort of structures up on the roof that hinted at a third storey. The outside was windowless on the ground floor but displayed a row of windows on the upper floor. The large door was set a few feet away from the right edge of the building.

High brick walls stretched from it to the next buildings on either side, but Lucifer couldn’t tell if the property behind them still belonged to Maze’s building or to its neighbors. Overall, the warehouse looked in good repair, but no different than the other buildings in the area. He wondered what had made his demon choose this as her home.

Once the door was open just barely wide enough to allow the car through without the side mirrors scraping against it, Maze drove inside. There she stopped and switched off the engine. Then she got out of the car and looked expectantly at Lucifer, flicking the remote to close the door behind them.

“Home sweet home.”

He climbed out of the passenger seat and looked around with interest. Next to him on the right side of the car, a set of stairs led up to the second floor. To Lucifer’s surprise they were not modern and utilitarian as he had expected, but a beautiful example of early 20th century decorative ironwork. The steps themselves displayed a fairly intricate geometric fretwork pattern, while the railing was all smooth flowing lines forming an abstract floral design.

In the far right corner of the building, an old elevator in its iron cage matched the style of the stairs. Beside it, a simple steel door probably led out into whatever back yard belonged to the building. Next to this, several cardboard boxes had been stacked neatly. 

Lucifer wondered why Maze hadn’t put them beneath the stairs. There was ample room there. He automatically eyed the space in question, and noticed a trap door set into the polished concrete floor. His eyebrow twitched in surprise. Apparently the building had some sort of cellar.

Turning slowly and ignoring Maze’s stare for the moment, Lucifer took in the rest. To the left of the car, the building stretched away, beautiful in its emptiness. Bare white walls surrounded the long expanse of the gray floor, dotted here and there at strategic points by the columns that held up the second storey. 

Once again these were not the utilitarian steel girders one would expect in a warehouse, but beautiful, elegant columns that Lucifer strongly suspected might actually be genuine art nouveau cast iron. Like the stairs and the elevator, they had been painted black, but he thought he could detect traces of fine golden lines highlighting the leaf designs around their crowns.

Daylight was illuminating the room through a long row of windows high up along the back wall, while the street side was - as Lucifer had already seen from outside - windowless. On the far wall, several exposed water pipes were visible, some of them leading up through the ceiling to the floor above.

Lucifer turned his attention back to Maze. “Interesting place you’ve got here. I assume you are living upstairs?”

His demon rolled her eyes. “Obviously.”

“But you’ve rented the whole building?”

“Not rented. I own it.” Maze corrected him coldly.

Lucifer’s eyebrows rose. “You bought it?”

Her expression darkened. “I acquired it. Legally. Anything wrong with that?”

“No, no, nothing wrong. It’s a nice property. And if as you said everything was legal and the price was acceptable…” He trailed off as Maze continued to glower at him, aware that he had somehow managed to offend her. That had been far from his intention, and he hastened to soothe whatever hurt feelings he had inadvertently caused. “It’s a nice property. I love the stairs and the columns. Are they original?”

Maze hesitated for a moment, then nodded grudgingly. “Xue Min said so. The elevator, too.”

Seeing his questioning look, she scowled but explained. “She’s an architect. I had her look over the place when I got it. She was very excited about the columns and so on. Insisted that I mustn’t change any of the ironwork.”

“Well, she’s right there. It would be a shame to damage or remove them.” Seeing Maze twist her lips, he hastened to add, “But if you do want to get rid of them, I know someone who’d love to take them and give them the appreciation they deserve.”

Maze’s scowl intensified. “I don’t want to get rid of them. I like them.”

The last was said defiantly, as if daring him to mock her for her taste in architecture. The first inklings of understanding were beginning to dawn. 

Demons weren’t supposed to care about beautiful things, especially human-made ones. Appreciating a weapon for its effectiveness was acceptable, but admiring the beauty and elegance of its design was already considered weird. The same applied to other things, like clothing, or housing. 

By demon standards, Maze was highly eccentric with her love of beautifully designed knives and her large and varied wardrobe. Not to mention her penchant for jewelry. Caring about such things beyond their practicality, forming emotional attachments to them, was a weakness in demonic eyes.

And admitting to a weakness in front of anybody, much less someone you didn’t trust, was a sure way of getting attacked. Maze was expecting him to attack her, to use her admission that she liked the building’s art nouveau features as a weapon against her.

It hurt Lucifer to realize just how badly he had damaged his relationship with his demon that she’d believe him capable of doing something like that. He had a lot to make up for, and he had better start right now.

He smiled softly. “That’s good. They are beautiful, and I think they give this place something special. It suits you.”

Maze appeared to be slightly mollified by this, and Lucifer decided he’d better change the subject while he was ahead.

“So, this problem of yours. Is it down here? Because I can’t see anything wrong here, except maybe that all this lovely space is just begging to be put to some use. If you need any suggestions there…”

“No. The problem is upstairs.” Maze scowled again. “And I don’t need suggestions for down here. I already have a plan.”

Lucifer’s curiosity was piqued, but her manner made it clear that further inquiries were not welcome. He remained silent.

After a second, Maze nodded towards the elevator. “Want to risk the old death trap? Or would you prefer to play it safe and take the stairs?”

There was the gleam of a challenge in her eyes. Lucifer grinned. 

“Oh by all means let’s take the elevator. After all where’s the fun in being immortal if you don’t put it to the test occasionally.”

His demon rolled her eyes and walked over to the ancient contraption, pulling open the metal latticework doors and motioning for him to step inside first. Lucifer could see the way the corners of her mouth were fighting to curl up in a smirk and wondered what kind of nasty surprise was waiting for him.

The elevator itself did not provide any obvious indications of impending doom, though it was a somewhat unusual construction. Rather than a closed cabin, it was a sort of cage within the larger cage of the metal construction that served as its shaft. 

The cabin floor was wood, laid in a surprisingly intricate star pattern and quite well preserved. The walls were a latticework of twining iron vines, with the occasional stylized leaf or flower for decoration. It took Lucifer a moment to realize that there were clear glass panels behind the iron, perhaps to prevent foolhardy humans from poking their fingers through and getting them ripped off when the elevator moved.

A quick glance upwards revealed that the cabin had no roof. The view was clear all the way to the top of the shaft. An ornate iron arch spanned the middle of the cabin, it’s apex crowned with a massive ring which held the elevator’s main cable.

The clang of the metal doors being closed drew Lucifer’s attention back to Maze. She was standing next to an actual wrought iron hand crank. Lucifer hadn’t seen an elevator with one of those since his brief visit to San Francisco back in 1906, shortly before the earthquake.

“Interesting death trap you’ve got here, Maze. Very pretty. Will it actually get us upstairs?”

His demon only smirked in reply and gave the crank a twist.


	3. Chapter 3

It took Lucifer a second to realize they were already moving. He had expected some sort of clanging and grinding, or some other mechanical noise, not to mention a jerk when the old technology sprang into action. But the elevator moved with perfect smoothness, and only the barest whisper as the big drum at the top of the shaft began to rotate and reel in the cable.  
  
Maze laughed at his astonished expression. “Completely refurbished and perfectly safe. Passed all the inspections without any problems.” She gave him a look. “I want the small human to be able to visit me here.”  
  
Lucifer nodded in understanding. “Of course.”  
  
Before he could say more, the elevator came to a smooth stop on the upper floor. Maze immediately opened the doors and stepped out. Lucifer followed her and looked around with interest.  
  
Unlike below, there was no open space stretching out before them. Instead, they found themselves on a sort of landing. A whitewashed brick wall spanned the width of the building in front of them, with a simple metal door set into it about a quarter of the length away from the right edge. To the left of the elevator, the stairs came up.   
  
The space between the elevator and the wall with the door was quite broad, more so than necessary to allow passage. The reason for this became clear when Lucifer studied the section of outer wall on the far left. The first two of the row of windows he had seen from outside were set high in the wall, providing daylight. To make the landing narrower but still useable, the wall would have had to cut right through one of them.  
  
While he had been inspecting the landing, Maze had moved over to the door and unlocked it. She now pulled it open and motioned for him to step inside. “Come in then.”  
  
Lucifer gladly accepted the invitation and stepped into his demon’s new apartment. She followed him and closed the door behind them, then watched as he stopped in the entrance area and looked around.  
  
A long open room stretched out before him, covering about two thirds of the length of the building. On the far side, a white wall with two doors in it hinted at further rooms. Immediately to the left there was a kitchen area, gleaming white fronts, black granite counters, red tiles on the wall.   
  
There was an electric stove with oven, a large sink with two basins, a dishwasher, and at the far end a large fridge/freezer. A second row of kitchen cabinets with black granite counter formed the border between kitchen area and the rest of the room. The cabinets were backed by a section of wall, maybe a foot higher than the countertop, topped with the same black granite. On the kitchen side, the bricks were covered with the same red tiles as the wall behind the stove and sink.  
  
Beyond this, where Lucifer would have expected a dining table, there was only an empty stretch of hardwood floor before the gaze finally came to rest on a huge black leather couch, with a low wooden table in front of it. A matching armchair and footstool completed the ensemble.  
  
He gazed at the couch in with frank appreciation. It was a beautiful, excellently made piece of furniture. The word couch really didn’t do it justice. This was a whole leather landscape which could easily serve as a bed for three adults. Four if you added the matching armchair and its footstool.  
  
The whole thing was facing towards the street side of the building, where a large television sat on a low cupboard beneath the row of windows. Lucifer took a moment to study this piece of furniture. It was made from some sort of solid hardwood, old but clearly well cared for, its simple, classic lines making it hard to guess its exact age. It matched the low table in front of the couch.  
  
As he let his eyes wander over the whole arrangement, a trace of uneasiness stole over him. Something here wasn’t quite right. Of course, the place clearly wasn’t fully furnished yet.   
  
He looked further around the room, but there wasn’t much else to see. Just another expanse of empty space until you reached the bare back wall with its two closed doors.  
  
The long wall on the right side was completely bare, too, but here a second row of windows reached further down, leaving the actual brickwork at about waist height. It would have made for a nice panoramic view, if there had been anything interesting to see outside. Unfortunately, all that presented itself were the windowless walls of the buildings on the next street.   
  
These were some distance away, though, and looking down from his position, Lucifer could see an empty backyard paved with broken concrete.  
  
Turning slowly, he let his eyes follow the windows towards his end of the room to complete the inspection, and froze in surprise.  
  
In the front right corner of the room, another art nouveau treasure had been hidden in plain sight behind the door. An iron spiral staircase was winding up to the roof, confirming Lucifer’s suspicion that there was at least a partial third storey up there.  
  
But it was the staircase itself which astonished him. The helix of deceptively delicate steps was anchored on their outsides to a series of iron poles. And spread all over those poles was a tangle of iron branches, leafless, covered in vicious thorns, but dotted here and there with beautiful wrought iron flowers. Roses, he realized. Their pedals delicately highlighted with gold leaf.  
  
It looked like something out of another world, a world of fairytales. Sleeping Beauty came to mind. It was a masterwork, an incredible piece of art, and how it had possibly wound up in an LA warehouse defied imagination.  
  
Something, a tiny sound or movement perhaps, made Lucifer turn to his demon. She was watching him attentively, and the expression on her face was difficult to read. There was defensiveness in there, much like there had been when she admitted to liking the other art nouveau features of her new home. As for the other emotions, he couldn’t even begin to guess.  
  
“Maze, this is absolutely fantastic! Beautiful, and elegant, and deadly. I mean look at those thorns! How in the world did they get away with putting them on there, they look like they could easily stab someone’s eyes out. But without them, it would be just a pretty rose, nice to look at, sure, but nowhere near this magnificent creation. But this, this is perfect. A deadly beauty. And the flowers look so deceptively delicate, fragile almost, but they’re much stronger than they look-” He broke off, realizing suddenly that everything he had been saying applied to the woman in front of him, too. “I love it.”  
  
‘I love you’ he didn’t say, knowing Maze was unlikely to believe it. No matter how true it was. And Lucifer realized with a start that it was true. He loved Maze, and not just in the casual way he had thought that in the past.  
  
Anyway, his extensive praise seemed to have gone down well. Some of the defensiveness had left Maze’s features, and her lips curved up at the corners. “Not bad, isn’t it? That’s why I chose this place.” Perhaps feeling that she had admitted too much, she went on, “I mean, it wasn’t the only thing. This place is exactly what I need, lots of space, no neighbors who will complain about the hours I keep or the guests I entertain, or the noise. I can do what I want here.”  
  
Lucifer smiled. “That’s good.”   
  
His eyes followed the curve of the staircase upwards as he cast around for something else to say. “What’s up there?”  
  
Maze shrugged. “My office, once it’s done. And the roof terrace.” For a moment it looked like she was going to say something more, but then she remained silent.  
  
Lucifer nodded. “May I take a look?”  
  
Was it his imagination, or did his demon look uneasy for a moment?  
  
“Sure.”  
  
With a happy grin, he turned and started climbing the stairs. He saw Maze hesitate for a second before following him.


	4. Chapter 4

At the top, the spiral stairs came out in a room with windows on three sides. The fourth side - the one facing the end of the building and the top of the elevator - consisted of a solid wall. This formed one long side of the room. The two short sides had waist-high walls with windows above them, while the second long side consisted of floor length windows with double glass doors in the middle.   
  
The art nouveau touch was visible up here too, in the iron structures framing the windows and holding up the curved roof, and the elegant frames of the doors and windows, which picked up the thorny rose motif of the stairs, albeit in a more restrained, delicate way. Up in the curved space between the rows of rectangular windows on the short sides and the roof, and in narrow strips on either side of the double doors, there were stained glass panels with abstract geometric patterns.  
  
As Maze’s words had indicated, there was a roof terrace beyond the glass doors. Lucifer could see an expanse of tiled floor, dotted here and there with empty plant containers. Immediately before the floor length windows to the right of the doors, a very nice deck chair and a small side table had been set up.  
  
Lucifer was surprised to see that the terrace did not stretch all the way to the other end of the roof. At the far side, there appeared to be another one room building, identical to the one he was currently standing in except that he suspected it didn’t have a staircase that gave access to the floor below. As far as he could see, it was completely empty.  
  
By contrast, this one was showing signs of its future purpose. The one full wall was lined with shelves, some of which already held boxes or ring binders. On the two short sides, rows of identical low cabinets had been placed beneath the windows. For a moment, Lucifer wondered why Maze hadn’t made them as high as the half walls there, choosing instead to keep them only about knee high. A lonely pillow in one corner provided a possible explanation.  
  
He turned to his demon, who had come up the stairs behind him. “You’re going to use these cabinets as benches?”  
  
Maze nodded. “Yes.”  
  
“That’s an excellent idea.”   
  
Maze didn't quite smile, but she looked pleased at the praise. Lucifer did a slow turn, taking in the room as a whole. So far, the shelves and cabinets were the only furniture, but it was easy enough to imagine a desk and chair, maybe an additional small table, a rug on the lovely dark hardwood floor. It would make an excellent office.  
  
His eyes traveled over the shelves again. “I didn’t realize bounty hunting required this much paperwork.”  
  
His demon rolled her eyes. “It’s a business. You know what it means to run a business in this town. And a lot of my bounties come from the LAPD or other law enforcement, and they love their paperwork.”  
  
“Indeed they do.” Lucifer grimaced, thinking for a moment of the many attempts the Detective had made to get him to assist her with the inevitable reports their cases required. Though after his last attempt at helping her, she seemed to have finally reached the conclusion that forcing him to do it was counterproductive.  
  
Now he only had to deal with the paperwork concerning Lux, at least until he could find a trustworthy accountant.  
  
“What?”  
  
Maze’s sudden exclamation pulled him out of his thoughts. He found her staring at him with a dark expression, having apparently misinterpreted his grimace.  
  
“Nothing.” Seeing her scowl deepen, Lucifer felt compelled to explain. “Just thinking of the fact that I will have to deal with the paperwork for Lux until I can find a new accountant.”  
  
Her expression cleared. “I can still give you some recommendations if you want them.”  
  
“I’d appreciate that. Thank you, Maze.” He smiled softly.  
  
His demon’s expression relaxed, the barest hint of a returning smile softening her features. Their eyes locked, and Lucifer found himself thinking not for the first time how beautiful Maze was, and how well this soft expression suited her.   
  
It wasn’t something he normally associated with her. And even now, while her features may look soft for the moment, she herself was not. No demon could ever be described as soft, not even the weakest, most pathetic ones. And certainly not Mazikeen.   
  
His demon was strong, fierce, with a tendency to violence and a sadistic streak that never failed to arouse him, calling to the darker aspects of his own nature. But she did have a softer side, for lack of a better word. Her loyalty, her devotion to her friends, her capacity for caring and love. And of course her appreciation of beauty in all its forms, as evidenced by her choice of new home, unconventional as it may be.  
  
Realizing with a start that he had been staring into his demon’s eyes for some seconds, Lucifer felt an unaccustomed heat rise to his cheeks and quickly turned away. To hide his reaction, he stepped over to the glass doors and took another look at the terrace.  
  
The outer wall of the building surrounded it, about waist high. The exact same height as the half walls of the room they were in, as a matter of fact. There appeared to be a narrow walkway between them, no doubt to allow access to the area that held the elevator’s mechanism.  
  
Looking out to the left, he could see the roofs of the buildings on the other side of the street, and beyond them parts of LA’s skyline against a blue sky dotted here and there with small white clouds. A similar vista presented itself to the right, though there the gap between this building and the next ones was due to the back yard.  
  
That thought roused Lucifer’s curiosity. He reached for the doors, then paused at the last second and turned to Maze. “May I?”  
  
This time he couldn’t possibly be mistaken. Maze hesitated visibly before nodding in agreement, her gaze briefly flickering to something outside. The building on the other end of the terrace, Lucifer realized. For some reason, Maze did not want him anywhere near it even though he could see from over here that it was empty.  
  
His curiosity was piqued, but he decided against a direct approach. Pressuring Maze now would only get her hackles up. Instead he opened the doors and stepped out onto the roof terrace, turning around completely and taking in the view. Very nice, given the industrial neighborhood. Then he moved over to the right and took a look down at the yard.  
  
Soft footsteps sounded behind him, and a second later Maze leaned against the wall next to him. Lucifer turned his head and asked: “Does the yard belong to this building?”  
  
His demon nodded. “I’m thinking about turning it into a garden. And maybe get a pool.”  
  
Intrigued, Lucifer took a closer look at the yard. Yes, it was not a bad idea. It would take a lot of work, of course, and cost quite a bit, but money had never been a concern for either of them. Maze was working as a bounty hunter to keep herself entertained, not because she needed the cash.   
  
No, if she wanted to turn the yard into a garden with a pool, it was certainly a feasible project. High walls on either side gave privacy, the sides of the buildings behind them windowless as far as could be seen. And while the building opposite did have windows, the glass looked milky and opaque. He noted with interest that while the wall on the left side joined up with the corner of Maze’s building, on the right side there was some space between the building and the wall surrounding the yard.  
  
“Interesting idea. You’re going to hire professionals for the job, of course?”  
  
“Of course. I’m not interested in gardening.” Her expression became thoughtful. “I think the small human might like messing around with plants and dirt, though.”  
  
“Hmm, yes. They often do. Get some beds with edible stuff, perhaps. Strawberries, carrots, herbs, that kind of thing. Maybe an apple tree?” He grinned and winked at her.  
  
Maze rolled her eyes, but the corners of her mouth were twitching upwards. “Maybe.”  
  
“A pool is a good idea, too. And you certainly have the space for it, even if you turn the rest into a garden.” He grinned. “I’m sure young Beatrice will like having a private pool she can visit whenever she likes.”  
  
His demon smiled and nodded, clearly pleased at the thought. It made him wonder how much in this place had been chosen with Maze's human friend in mind. Not that he believed Maze would get a pool just for the little spawn. Lucifer knew his demon, and her love for being in the water. Still, he could tell that from her point of view, young Beatrice's approval was certainly a point in favor of any plan.  
  
“Well, as long as the Detective doesn’t turn into an overprotective mother-hen,” Lucifer added as an afterthought.  
  
Maze frowned. “You think Decker would stop her from visiting if I have a pool? But Trix knows how to swim. She loves it!”  
  
Lucifer shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know Maze. I’d like to think the Detective would trust her offspring enough to let the child spend time with her best friend even if there is a pool in the garden, but I could be wrong. Humans tend to get weird when their offspring is concerned.”  
  
“Yeah, they do. I remember how Chloe freaked out because of that school a few months back.”  
  
He nodded, remembering the case well. He still owed the small human a favor for the cancelled driving lessons. So far, the girl had not come up with an alternative wish, and the last time he mentioned it to her she talked about saving it up until she was old enough for driving lessons.  
  
Maze appeared to be brooding on the Detective’s possible reactions to her having a pool in her garden. “Maybe I shouldn’t get a pool then.”  
  
“That would be a shame.”  
  
She arched an eyebrow. “What, were you hoping to be invited to pool parties already?”  
  
“Are you planning to have pool parties?” Lucifer tried his best to look innocent. Judging by the way his demon arched her scarred eyebrow, he was not successful.  
  
Maze shrugged. “Maybe.”  
  
“Well, in that case, I would consider it a great honor to get an invitation.” He waited a second, then added resignedly, “But I understand if you’d rather not have me there.”  
  
Maze’s eyebrow twitched, betraying her momentary surprise. “We’ll see. It’ll probably take some time until the garden will be fit for any sort of visitors, anyway.”  
  
Lucifer nodded. He hesitated for a second, then decided to make an offer. “I can recommend some people for the work, if you don’t have anyone yet. Landscape architects, gardeners, pool specialists. Whatever you need. If I call in a few favors, I’m sure your garden would be ready in no time at all.”  
  
“No.” The rejection came immediately. “I don’t want your favors.”  
  
“But-”  
  
“No!” She pushed his shoulder until he turned to face her fully, and got right in his personal space. “This is my home. Mine. Not yours. I decide what gets done, who I hire for it, and when they do it. And if they’re not working fast enough for me then I take care of it. You have nothing to do with this, and I won’t let you put me in your debt for help I neither need nor want.”  
  
Lucifer stared at her for several seconds, too stunned for words. Suddenly, Maze’s uneasiness at having him here and her obvious reluctance to ask for his help made a frightening amount of sense.  
  
He knew his demon’s view on favors. Mazikeen had made one deal with him millennia ago, at the beginning of their acquaintance, and since then she had made it clear that she would neither accept favors from him, nor do favors for him. A part of him had always wondered if it was because she regretted making that deal.  
  
Maze had been adamant that anything she did for him beyond the scope of her duties as a servant was done of her own choice, her own free will, and did not come with a price attached.   
  
And in return, she wanted to know the price for anything he might do for her beforehand. She would not allow him or anyone else to name their price later, when she was already obligated to pay it.  
  
Lucifer took a step back and nodded. “Of course. If you don’t want me to, I won’t.”   
  
Though perhaps he could find out which contractor she was going to hire and have a quiet word with them. He wanted to help her, after all.  
  
Maze’s eyes narrowed and her expression lost none of its ferocity. “I want your word that you will not call in any favors on my behalf or in connection with me. Swear it!”  
  
Her distrust hurt, especially since it was not completely unjustified. Lucifer sighed and nodded again. “Alright, Mazikeen. I, Lucifer Morningstar, solemnly swear by my father’s name that I will not call in any favors on your behalf or in connection with you unless explicitly asked to do so.”  
  
She continued to glare at him for a second, then nodded grudgingly. An uncomfortable silence fell.


	5. Chapter 5

Lucifer took another look around for want of anything better to do. He would have brought up the reason Maze had asked him to come here in the first place, but right now any reminder of the purpose of his presence was practically guaranteed to make his demon rethink her decision and terminate his visit. He did not want that.  
  
His gaze traveled over the second room at the far end of the terrace, but he forced himself not to let it linger there. Whatever plans Maze might have for that space, she clearly did not want him to know about them. He needed to respect that, to show her that he respected her. Then perhaps, in time, she would allow him to know what she was planning there.  
  
Turning further around, he studied the view on the street side once again. It really was quite a good view, much better than he had expected from below. None of the neighboring buildings were higher than Maze’s, and while their roofs didn’t make for a particularly interesting panorama, the skyline of LA behind them was beautiful. The day was clear, the soft breeze dispersing the smog, and in the far distance Lucifer could make out the silhouettes of the hills.  
  
The neighborhood looked like a good choice for a home in other ways, too. This was a weekday, early afternoon, and yet it was relatively quiet. The other buildings in the street appeared to be mainly warehouses with little activity. No noisy workshops or factories. There also wasn’t much traffic in the street below. During the time they had been up here, Lucifer hadn’t heard a single car.  
  
His demon’s choice of residence might be unconventional, but it was nevertheless an excellent choice. Not that he had really expected anything else.  
  
Lucifer turned back to Maze, and found her leaning on the wall, staring down into the yard. He walked over to her slowly, expecting her at any moment to turn and tell him that she’d changed her mind, she wanted him to leave. But she didn’t. He leaned against the wall beside her, careful to leave a foot of empty space between them, and followed her gaze downwards. There was nothing there except the broken concrete of the yard.  
  
They stayed like that for several minutes, until Lucifer finally couldn’t take the silence anymore.  
  
“You have chosen a very impressive new home, Maze. I must admit that this building has surprised me. From the outside, one doesn’t see how much potential it has and what treasures it is hiding.” Very much like its current owner, but he didn’t say that. Maze would probably take it as an insult to her looks. And in a way, she would be right. This building, for all its hidden treasures, didn't look like much of anything from outside. Whereas his demon was beautiful, a true stunner. Unlike her home, nobody could overlook her or pass her by without noticing her beauty.  
  
Lucifer waited a moment, wondering how she was going to react to his words, but Maze didn’t react at all. She continued to look down into the empty yard, almost as if she hadn’t heard him.  
  
Her lack of reaction irked him. Lucifer knew he needed to tread carefully if he wanted to repair their relationship. He needed to pay attention to her, listen to her words, gauge her moods, take her feelings into account, and most of all respect her choices and opinions. The small human had been most emphatic on those points during her lessons with him.  
  
And that was all true, and all very well in theory. But right now he needed some kind of reaction from her to know how to do all that. He couldn’t just stand here, waiting uselessly until something happened. Anything was better than that, even an outright rejection.  
  
He decided to risk it. “What I said earlier, about giving you a list of gardeners and so on. I can still do that if you want.”  
  
That got a reaction. Maze turned her head and glared at him. Before she could say anything, Lucifer went on, “no favors, I swear. Just the list of names if you want it, to use or not as you see fit. Given of my own free will without any price to you.”  
  
His demon studied him for a long moment and then nodded. “Alright.”  
  
Silence spread between them once again. And once again Lucifer was the one who decided to break it.  
  
“Well, since I can’t see anything wrong up here, I’m guessing your problem is downstairs?”  
  
He watched as Maze pressed her lips together and remained silent, clearly struggling with herself. Lucifer could practically see the argument raging in her mind. The fact that she _was_ struggling gave him hope.  
  
No matter how badly he had messed up, it appeared that some of the old connection between them was still there. Some part of his demon did still want to trust him. He just needed to prove to her that he was worthy of that trust.  
  
“I want to help you, Maze. Without expecting anything in return. That’s what friends do, isn’t it? It’s what you’ve always done for me.”  
  
And it was beyond time that he reciprocated, but he did not say that. Anything that smacked of quid pro quo, of favors and repayments, would be fatal right now.  
  
“I want to be your friend, Maze. No, that’s wrong. I am your friend. I want to be a good friend. Please, give me a chance to prove that I can do it.”  
  
Several tense seconds passed before she nodded curtly. “The problem’s in the living area downstairs.”  
  
“Ah.” It seemed that his instincts had not been mistaken earlier. It hadn’t just been a case of the room being under-furnished.  
  
Maze arched an eyebrow. “You felt it too, didn’t you?”  
  
“I felt something. I wasn’t sure, didn’t want to say anything in case it was just that the room isn’t fully furnished yet.” He realized a second too late that he was making a potentially insulting assumption there, and added hastily, “it isn’t, right? I mean, you don’t have a dining table or a breakfast bar or anything where you can sit down and eat yet.”  
  
His demon rolled her eyes. “The table and the chairs are coming next week. Juan and Tarik are working on them, but the couch was more important. And before you ask, I’m getting a rug for that area. Ordered it last week, but it’s going to take four weeks until I get it.”  
  
Lucifer’s eyebrows rose. “Where is it shipping from?”  
  
Maze frowned in confusion. “Shipping? It’s not shipping from anywhere. It’s being made right here in LA, but apparently, weaving takes time, especially with the pattern I want.”  
  
“You found someone who weaves rugs here?”  
  
“Of course. There are all sorts of craftspeople in this city. Flo usually does props for movies and theaters, but she’s branching out into luxury interior design. Weaving used to be mostly a hobby for her.”  
  
“Can you give me her name and address? If she’s good enough to satisfy you, I might have some business for her.”  
  
Maze shrugged. “Sure. I’ll send it to you with the accountant recs.”  
  
She stepped back into her future office and headed for the spiral stairs. “You coming?”  
  
Lucifer nodded and followed her quickly, taking care to close the doors behind himself.


	6. Chapter 6

When they reached the living room floor, Lucifer took another look around, and once again experienced that subtle feeling of wrongness. He concentrated on it, trying to pinpoint the cause. It didn’t come from the kitchen, or the spiral staircase. It wasn’t there if he focused on the far wall with the doors leading to what he assumed were the bathroom and bedroom. But beyond that, the feeling proved elusive.  
  
Finally, he shook his head with a sigh. “There’s definitely something wrong here, something… off, as you say, but I can’t see any obvious cause, and I can’t pin it down.”  
  
“Damn.”  
  
Maze looked like she was seconds away from hitting something. Or someone. Lucifer shifted uneasily, remembering the last time he had seen her so angry.  
  
“What am I supposed to do now? I can’t leave it like this!”  
  
“Okay, look, calm down. Just because we can’t pinpoint the cause right now doesn’t mean we have to give up.”  
  
He pulled his silver flask out of his pocket, inwardly congratulating himself for the forethought that had made him fill it up this morning, and held it out to her.  
  
For a second, it looked like his demon might decide to hit him, and Lucifer remembered that telling her to calm down when she was upset was never a wise move. But then she accepted his offer. He watched as she took a long, deep pull. After a second, smaller sip, she handed the flask back. Lucifer fortified himself with a generous mouthful before putting it away and pointing towards the couch.  
  
“Why don’t we sit down and see if we can come up with another way of tackling the problem?”  
  
Maze hesitated for a moment, then nodded grudgingly and led the way over to the sitting area. She headed straight for the armchair, sitting down with her back straight, not relaxing even the tiniest fraction, gripping the armrests in a way that made it impossible for Lucifer to perch there.  
  
The signal was clear. Maze did not want him to sit next to her, perhaps didn’t even want him anywhere near her right now. Lucifer knew it was mostly frustration; she probably regretted asking for his help since he hadn’t been able to do anything so far. It still hurt to know that he was not allowed to get close to her and offer the type of physical comfort or distraction he usually would.  
  
He sat down on the part of the couch closest to the armchair, and promptly let out a sigh of pleasure as his body sank into the soft, supremely comfortable seat. His hands ran over the smooth leather, its faint, pleasant fragrance filling his nostrils.  
  
“Mmmm, lovely.” He looked over at Maze, who was watching him closely. “Did I understand correctly that you had this custom made?”  
  
“Yes.”   
  
The answer was short and sharp, his demon clearly not willing to say more. An uncomfortable silence fell.  
  
Lucifer looked around, hoping in vain that he might find the cause for Maze’s problem from this new position and the slightly changed perspective it offered. The feeling of wrongness did seem somewhat lessened here, but it was still present, and the cause was still just as elusive as before.  
  
A quick glance at his demon showed that she was still staring at him, though perhaps it would be more accurate to say she was staring through him. Lucifer did get the distinct impression that she was not actually seeing him. Not good. He didn’t know what she was thinking of, but the odds were it wasn’t anything in his favor. He needed to do something about that.  
  
He needed to prove himself useful, to help her solve this problem. Unfortunately he had no idea how. But perhaps he could simply ask more questions. Maybe getting more information about Maze’s new home would give him the clue he needed.  
  
“Found another way of tackling the problem yet?”  
  
His demon’s words pulled him out of his thoughts. Lucifer’s first reflex was to answer frankly that he hadn’t, but he stopped himself. That was not what Maze wanted, no, needed to hear right now if she was to improve her opinion of him. Time to prevaricate.  
  
“I don’t know. Can I ask you a few questions?”  
  
Her brows drew together, but she nodded.  
  
Lucifer took a moment to gather his thoughts and come up with a question. “Alright. This wrongness. You obviously didn’t feel it when you bought the place, otherwise you wouldn’t have bought it. So when did you first feel it?”  
  
“Today.”  
  
Interesting. So she had decided to come to him for help within hours of the problem occurring. Perhaps his standing with her was not quite as bad as he had feared. Or perhaps the wrongness affected her more than he had realized.  
  
“Was it there this morning when you woke up?”  
  
Maze thought for a moment. “No, I don’t think so. But I wasn’t really paying much attention this morning, I had to go and take care of stuff.”  
  
“Well then, when did you first notice it?”  
  
“When I was eating lunch.”  
  
Seeing his raised eyebrow, she elaborated. “I’d been out on another bounty. Caught the guy, delivered him to the LAPD, picked up some Chinese takeaway and came back here to eat. That’s when I felt it. Thought it was the food at first, but the feeling disappeared when I went into the bathroom. And then again when I went into the bedroom.”  
  
“Alright. And what changed between this morning and lunch?”  
  
Maze frowned. “Nothing really.”  
  
Lucifer echoed her frown. He had been sure they were finally getting somewhere. “Something must have changed. Did you have the builders in, or any other visitors?”  
  
“No builders, and they wouldn't have been in here anyway. Everything here is done where they are concerned. Xue Min came by, but she just dropped off the plans for downstairs. She didn’t come up here either. Oh, and Juan and Tarik delivered the couch and armchair.” She added the last almost as an afterthought.  
  
“Aha!” Lucifer sat up straight. This was exactly the sort of change he was looking for!  
  
“No. It’s not the couch. Or the armchair for that matter. I inspected them in the workshop yesterday, and there wasn’t anything wrong with them. I like them.” Maze crossed her arms and glared at him, clearly defensive.  
  
“But it’s the one thing that changed between this morning, when you said everything was fine, and now when something is wrong.”  
  
“But it’s not the couch and armchair that’s wrong!”  
  
He suppressed an irritated sigh. “I’m not saying it is. But it could have triggered the wrongness.”  
  
Maze was still scowling skeptically. Lucifer tried to find a way to explain.  
  
“Look, all I’m saying is that the couch, in here, might have set off something else that causes the wrongness.” He cast around for an analogy his demon would understand. “Sort of like when you flip a light switch and the bulb burns out.”  
  
Now she was frowning in confusion.  
  
“You know what I mean, right? Flip, bzzzt, lightbulb’s kaput?”  
  
Maze nodded grudgingly.  
  
“Okay. Did the switch destroy the lightbulb? No, of course it didn’t. But it set a series of events in motion, and at the end the bulb was bust. The switch closed a circuit, the circuit allowed the electricity to flow, the electricity flowed into the bulb, and in there something happened, physics probably, or maybe chemistry, anyway something that made the bulb go bzzzt.”  
  
“And you think my couch did the same? It flipped a switch or something, and something else here was thrown off and went wrong?” Maze still sounded skeptical.  
  
Lucifer shrugged. “I think it’s possible.”  
  
“And how does that help us? We still don’t know what’s actually causing the wrongness.”  
  
He had to concede the point. “No we don’t. But we’re one step closer to figuring it out.”  
  
“If you’re right,” Maze reminded him, not willing to just accept his suggestion.  
  
“Well, why don’t we test my theory?”  
  
He fought down a grin at her arched eyebrow. “Between the two of us, we should be able to get the couch and all the rest out of this room. If I’m right, that feeling of wrongness should disappear then.”  
  
Maze opened her mouth, probably to protest the couch’s innocence once again, but Lucifer cut her off. “And if I’m wrong, your couch will be exonerated and I will formally apologize for impugning the character of your furniture.”  
  
His demon’s eyes narrowed and she glared at him for a second before nodding curtly. “Alright.”  
  
Her gaze drifted over the landscape of leather Lucifer was sitting on. “I think we can get half of it into the bathroom, and the other half into my bedroom.”  
  
“Excellent!” Lucifer quickly got to his feet and held out his hand, offering to assist her in getting up. Maze pointedly ignored the gesture and rose on her own, then directed him towards the other end of the couch ensemble, where part of it formed a broad sort of divan.  
  
“That segment is connected to the rest with a bunch of screws. We’ve got to remove them. Can you tilt the whole thing up so it’s lying on its back? I’ll get the tools.”  
  
She didn’t wait for an answer. Lucifer watched as she went into the kitchen and opened a cupboard, then tore his gaze away and did as she had suggested before she turned around and found him staring. He really hoped this idea of his was going to work out.


	7. Chapter 7

His supernatural strength made it easy to tilt the huge couch the way Maze had suggested. And he saw at once what she had meant. The divan part was connected with the rest by two metal pieces, one at each end of the connecting edge. Each of them was held in place by eight screws, which seemed excessive at first until he remembered how his own couch at the penthouse had needed reinforcement to survive his parties.  
  
A clunk behind him made Lucifer turn his head. Maze had set an actual professional looking toolbox, fully equipped with all sorts of screwdrivers, hammers, and other stuff down on the coffee table and was rummaging through it. After a moment she apparently found what she was looking for. Screwdriver in hand she knelt down beside him and got to work on the connections between the two couch segments.  
  
It took her no time at all to undo them. Lucifer suppressed an amused smile as he watched her carefully put the screws and the metal bits into a compartment of the toolbox which she emptied for the purpose. At her command, he set the now separated divan section back onto its legs while Maze steadied the other piece of the couch.  
  
“Okay, you take that end, I think we can get it into the bathroom if we keep it like this.”  
  
Lucifer pushed the divan aside and took hold of the other end of the long section of the couch as Maze had indicated. At her signal they both lifted it up, and then Maze moved carefully around the detached divan until she stood with her back towards the two doors at the end of the room.  
  
She headed for the left one, practically pulling him along. A deft gesture with one elbow opened the door and allowed Maze to pass through, carefully twisting and turning her end of the couch so neither the legs nor the back scraped against the doorframe.   
  
As he followed her lead, Lucifer was too busy concentrating on their bulky cargo to pay much attention to the room. But as soon as they had turned it right side up and set it down safely he took the opportunity to look around.  
  
He wasn’t sure what he had expected. An authentic art nouveau bathroom? That certainly would have been surprising. No, Maze’s bath was entirely modern. Large, dark gray tiles covered the floor. A huge gleaming white bathtub stood underneath the windows. There was a glass shower cubicle in one corner, big enough to accommodate several people at once. The toilet was in another separate cubicle. A counter along the back wall held two washbasins, with a large mirror above it and cabinets beneath. The usual accoutrements - a glass with her toothbrush, a tube of toothpaste, her hairbrush and comb, pots of lotion and a box containing some of her makeup - were scattered over the available surface, giving the room a lived-in feeling.  
  
There were art nouveau touches in this modern room, though. The water fittings on the washbasins and the bathtub, as well as those in the shower had those lovely flowing lines. The heating rack for the towels also had the distinctive stylized organic design, though he suspected that this was not original, but a modern replica, or perhaps even a true modern designer piece that simply matched the old style. And finally, while the walls themselves were tiled in a very pale gray, almost white, there was a line of colorful tiles circling the room about a foot beneath the ceiling.   
  
Lucifer took a closer look at the tiles, and his eyebrows rose. Each one of them depicted some sort of animal surrounded by a border of abstract vines. Some of them were expected. Dragonflies, hummingbirds, bees, frogs, colorful beetles. Less expected were the creepier critters. Bats. Praying mantises. Snakes and lizards. Even a tarantula. Each of them was depicted in exquisite detail. Lucifer was sure he would be able to determine the exact species depicted if he cared to do so.  A second look around showed that some of these tiles were also incorporated in the walls of the shower cubicle.  
  
“Xue Min’s cousin made them. He’s a biologist really, specializes in bats, but he likes doing stuff like those tiles in his spare time.”   
  
Lucifer startled at Maze’s voice, and quickly turned to look at her. She was giving him another one of those hard to interpret looks, wary, defiant, proud, and a whole bunch of other things he couldn’t name.  
  
“They’re very impressive.  Not exactly your usual style though, aren’t they?”  
  
That was clearly the wrong thing to say. Maze glared at him and crossed her arms in front of her chest defensively. “They go with the rest of the art nouveau stuff. And anyway, what do you know about my usual style?”  
  
“Well, I mean… eh…” Lucifer broke off, realizing that nothing he could say would improve his standing with his demon. And actually, he had no idea what her usual style in interior decoration was. Yes, she had had her own rooms at his penthouse, but they had come mostly furnished. He had overseen the necessary renovations before they moved in, and while he had regularly asked Maze for her opinion, all the decisions for his home on Earth had been made by him.  
  
Their home on Earth. It had been Maze’s home just as much as his own. And yet, he had never thought of it that way. It had never felt that way. Not until she decided to move out.  
  
“I think we can get the armchair and footstool in here, too.”  
  
Lucifer looked at Maze, surprised that she would be willing to forgive his blunder. One glance at the scowl she was giving him told him that he was very much mistaken in this assumption. Maze may have decided against confronting him further, but nothing was forgiven.   
  
He followed her back into the living room and picked up the armchair before she could. The chivalrous gesture did nothing to soothe Maze’s mood. Still, she did seem willing to continue in their work to test his suggestion.   
  
They quickly stowed the chair and footstool in the bathroom, turning them around and stacking them on top of the couch segment, and returned once more to the living room.   
  
Lucifer noticed that Maze had not gone over to the last remaining piece of the couch, lingering near the bathroom door instead. In a sudden, unaccustomed flash of insight, he understood why. She didn’t want him to see her bedroom. Not after his blunder over the bathroom tiles.  
  
He opened his mouth, then closed it again, at a loss about what to say. Silence spread between them, urging him to do something, anything. He resisted the urge. Right now, the only action he could think of that wouldn’t make the situation worse was to give Maze the time and space she needed to decide what she wanted to do next.   
  
Gathering what little patience he possessed, Lucifer ambled over to the windows and looked out into Maze’s backyard. The view from this floor was not as nice as from the roof terrace. The other buildings cut off most of the skyline, leaving you to stare at gray, mostly windowless walls. And the yard itself didn’t offer any relief right now, either.  
  
Of course, that was going to change if Maze went through with her plan to turn it into a garden. If she was wise, she would get a few trees that could provide shade and would get tall enough to hide the neighboring buildings. Or maybe she could persuade her neighbors to let her plant climbing roses or other creepers to cover the walls.  
  
Lucifer let his eyes drift over the empty space, trying to imagine what kind of garden his demon would create. If her new home was any indication, it would probably be quite different from anything her could think of.  
  
The idea of creating one’s very own garden held an appeal that Lucifer had not hitherto felt. Perhaps he could do the same? Not at the penthouse, of course. The balcony was barely large enough to accommodate a few potted plants. At least not if he wanted to continue using it for his parties.   
  
His mansion in the hills had a bit more outdoor space, but most of that was taken up by the wooden deck and the pool. No, if he wanted to create a garden, he would need to use another property, or perhaps even acquire a new, suitable space.  
  
Hm. There was that undeveloped piece of land east of Fillmore, which he had acquired through one of his first deals here in LA. He’d only been there once to take a look. It was just wilderness, not even a small hut on it, only brushes, a few trees. Several acres of wilderness. More than enough to create the garden of his dreams, whatever it might be.   
  
A muted clink, followed by the sound of liquid being poured, pulled Lucifer out of his thoughts. He turned around and found Maze standing in the kitchen pouring herself a large whisky. Noticing his attention she arched an eyebrow, and then got a second tumbler from one of the cupboards and filled it.  
  
Lucifer walked over and leaned against the half-high wall separating the kitchen from the rest of the room. He took the proffered drink with a smile. “Thank you.”  
  
Maze nodded briefly, but she remained silent and avoided eye contact, demonstratively concentrating on her own glass. It seemed that once more it was up to Lucifer to break the silence. He looked at the living room, taking in the remaining pieces of furniture: the last piece of the couch, the low table, and the cupboard against the wall, with the TV on top.  
  
“I think we can put the table and the cupboard outside on the landing.”  
  
“What?”  
  
Lucifer turned to face Maze again. “The table and the cupboard. I think there’s enough space on the landing outside so we can put them there. And the TV.”  
  
His demon frowned. “Why? They’re not new. They didn’t cause the wrongness.”  
  
“They were delivered before the couch?”  
  
Maze shook her head. “They were here when I got the place.” She looked defensive once again. “They’re not bad, so I kept them.”  
  
“They’re good,” Lucifer quickly assured her.   
  
He studied the two pieces with renewed interest. They were good, solid wood, well made and well maintained. They didn’t have any distinctive features that allowed you to place them in a specific period or style, but that made them good choices for combining with other, more specific pieces of furniture.  
  
Maze set down her glass with a determined clink, took one deep breath and blew it out again, and walked over to the remaining piece of the couch. “Well?”  
  
Lucifer hastily drained his whisky and joined her. Each took hold of one end of the divan part, and together they carried it over to the door leading into Maze’s bedroom. She opened the door and pushed it wide, then frowned at the opening.   
  
“Okay, we need to turn this so the back is down and you need to go more over there.”  
  
It took them a few moments to maneuver their unwieldy cargo into the right position to get it through the doorway, but they managed it. Maze went first, going backwards with the confidence of someone who knew exactly what lay behind her, calling out instructions to Lucifer on when and how to tilt their burden. He followed her instructions until they had both cleared the doorway and were able to put the couch segment down.  
  
Mission accomplished, Lucifer gave Maze a quick smile, dusted off his hands as he straightened up, and froze. Somehow, by walking through that seemingly ordinary doorway, he had stepped right into Hell.


	8. Chapter 8

Hell. Dark, and red, with the eternal flames of the lake of fire blazing right outside the windows.  
  
No, that couldn’t be right. Maze’s bedroom hadn’t looked out onto the lake. And now he could see that there were other differences, too. This was not her old bedroom in his infernal palace.  
  
Almost instinctively, Lucifer turned his head and looked at the doorway he had just stepped through, relieved to find it still there, unchanged, and beyond it the very normal sight of Maze’s new earthly home. He released the breath he hadn’t even realized he was holding.  
  
No portal, no magic, no divine or infernal intervention. He had not suddenly been transported back into his old kingdom. This was just a simple bedroom on Earth.  
  
Or rather, a very extraordinary bedroom on Earth. He looked around in astonishment, still struggling with the feeling that he had suddenly stepped into Hell.  
  
The hardwood floor of the living room had given way to smooth black stone. The ceiling in here was black, too, not white like outside where only the iron girders with their art nouveau ornamentation were black. In fact, here in Maze’s bedroom Lucifer couldn’t see any of those girders. But then, he had trouble seeing the ceiling at all, it was so very black.  
  
The walls of the bedroom were covered with blood red wallpaper with an intricate red on red pattern. No, not wallpaper. Silk. Brocaded silk, handwoven, the kind of wall covering you could only find in the palaces of kings in centuries past. His demon was clearly sparing no expenses in furnishing her new home.  
  
As for the windows… Lucifer instinctively took a half step backwards, certain he could actually feel the heat of the flames. They covered the whole expanse of the windows, flickering and dancing, bathing the whole room in hues of yellow, orange and red.  
  
But that couldn’t be real. There was no way such a fiery inferno was actually blazing right outside the windows. I had to be an illusion of some sort.  
  
At that moment, the flames suddenly became duller, darkening the room. Lucifer looked around in surprise, and noticed that the slice of sky he could glimpse through the open doorway and the windows in the living room was no longer blue, but white. A cloud was passing overhead, blocking the sun.  
  
Realization dawned, and he studied the bedroom windows with new interest. The flames were indeed not real. The clear window glass had been replaced by a masterpiece of the stained glass craft. Dozens, hundreds of pieces of colored glass - some of one single color, but most marbled or streaked, or quite possibly even painted - had been meticulously assembled into a sweeping panorama of flames.  
  
The result was truly exquisite, seeming almost alive. Lucifer knew there were master craftsmen and women in this city, and he knew quite a lot of them, but nobody he knew could have created this work of art. How had Maze done it? Where had she found the artist who had created this masterpiece? Yet another name he would have to ask her for.  
  
Smiling ruefully, he tore his attention away from the mesmerizing window to take in the rest of the room. The first thing that caught his gaze was the bed.  
  
Except that this small, insignificant word was entirely inadequate for the thing that stood against the far wall. It was… art. A fantastic sculpture. Hell’s essence somehow captured and built into this room. No. Built was another entirely inappropriate word. Lucifer knew it had to have been built by a human - or quite possibly several humans - but it didn’t look built. It looked as if it had grown here.  
  
Black iron vines seemingly sprouting out of the stone floor, twisting together to form four trees. Dark, sinister, menacing shapes in the fiery light of the stained glass windows, eerily similar to the Forest of Suicides in Hell.  
  
Some of the vines were branching off low down, forming the frame for a king sized mattress. The rest of them twined tightly around each other, occasionally looping or seemingly trying to break away from the throng before being dragged in again, forming slits and gaps in the trunks. In the flickering light of the stained glass windows, they looked almost alive, as though they were moving, writhing coiling around each other like snakes.  
  
At about the height of Lucifer’s head, the iron vines began to spread out, forming the trees’ crowns. Twisting, leafless branches reached out into the room or towards each other, still coiling themselves into tight loops now and then, splitting apart higher up to form thinner branches and twigs that seemed to grow into the ceiling.  
  
Frowning at this impossibility, Lucifer stepped closer to the bed and looked up, trying to work out what was going on up there in the tangle of branches. Almost immediately, he stumbled backwards, half stifling a cry of alarm.  
  
A low, throaty chuckle made him turn around. It took him a moment to focus on his demon against the brilliance of the stained glass windows. She was smirking, her dark eyes gleaming with amusement and perhaps just a touch of malice. Somewhat to his surprise, she did not make any comment, just continued smirking infuriatingly.  
  
Lucifer recovered the tatters of his dignity and stepped close to the foot of the bed again. He rested one hand on the trunk of one of the tree-pillars. The coolness of the metal managed to startle him, even though it was perfectly natural. The atmosphere of the room was still getting to him. He really had to admire what Maze had managed to create here.  
  
Steeling himself for what he might see, Lucifer looked up once again. His grip on the iron tree tightened as something moved, up there between the black branches. It took him a long moment to realize that it was his own face, reflected darkly back at him. His human face. The colored light from the stained glass windows was painting it in hues of orange and red, and combined with the darkness of the mirror made it look eerily like his lost Devil face.  
  
A mirror. That was the trick. There was a mirror up on the ceiling over the bed. Not a normal mirror, shiny silver reflective layer behind clear glass. This one was much darker. A glass surface covering a perfectly black background, perhaps? At any rate, it accounted for the unsettling impression that the twisted branches of Maze’s iron bed-trees were growing into the ceiling.  
  
Now that he knew what he was looking at, Lucifer studied the tops of the trees more closely. Some of the iron branches stopped short of the mirror, but others reached it, and seemed to actually penetrate the glass. He had no idea how that could have been accomplished, but the effect was fascinating. It made the trees that much more disconcerting.  
  
He took a step back and turned his attention to the actual bed part of this… Whatever you might call it. Sculpture? Bed was definitely not the right word for it, despite the fact that this was its practical function. But that seemed almost incidental.  
  
At any rate, the four iron trees did hold a king sized mattress between them, and some of the iron vines were forming an intricate headboard, though a good part of that was hidden behind the deep crimson pillows Maze had stacked up there.  
  
There was no matching footboard. No nightstands either, at least not in the classical sense. But the trees at the head of the bed each had one iron vine branching off low down and forming a large horizontal loop before rejoining the trunks. Looking more closely, Lucifer could see that each loop held a glass plate.  
  
There were no lamps on these bedside tables, no alarm clock, no glass of water, or pieces of jewelry or other knick knacks. Not even a knife. Perhaps Maze hadn’t gotten around to equipping the room fully quite yet.  
  
The bed itself was ready to sleep in, though. The sheets and comforter matched the hue of the pillows, the fabrics showing the subtle shimmer of silk. Lucifer couldn’t help imagining how beautiful Maze must look sleeping there.  
  
He cast an almost automatic look in her direction, and found her watching him intently. Judging by the smirk on her face, she was finding his reactions quite amusing.  
  
“Bloody Hell, Maze! This is incredible!”  
  
Lucifer did a quick 360 turn, taking in the rest of the room. Apart from the extraordinary bed, there was not much furniture. A throne-like armchair in the corner by the window. A large dark wooden chest beneath the windows. An equally dark dressing table, complete with a mirror in an ornate black frame and an upholstered seat stood against the wall towards the living room. A sliding door in the wall opposite the windows suggested a walk-in closet there. Otherwise that wall was completely bare, no furniture of any kind against it.  
  
The overall effect really reminded him of Maze’s bedroom in his palace back in Hell. The furniture was different, but the color scheme was the same, giving it a very similar atmosphere. All that was missing were the weapons mounted on the walls. Perhaps she didn’t feel she needed them here on Earth.  
  
The reminder of Mazikeen’s former home sobered Lucifer.  
  
“I didn’t realize you were missing Hell this much.”  
  
The smirk disappeared from Maze’s face and she turned her head away, her lips pressed together in a thin line.  
  
Lucifer silently cursed himself. Why had he said it out loud? His demon had finally looked like she was loosening up, and like the idiot he was he had to go and remind her of his failure to be there for her, and to understand her.  
  
Maze cast a quick glance at him out of the corner of her eyes, but the moment their gazes met she looked away again.  
  
“Just because you hate your home doesn’t mean I have to hate mine.”  
  
He almost protested that Hell was not his home and never had been, but for once he managed to stop himself in time. Anything else would have been unforgivable. Maze of all people knew that Hell had never been a home to him. She wasn’t talking about Hell, well, not where he was concerned. She meant Heaven, and she was right about him hating the place.  
  
And she was right with the rest of it, too. Lucifer would love to claim that he had not expected Maze to feel the same way about Hell as he did, and it was true that he had never demanded it, never said anything outright. But at the same time, he had acted as though it would be a given that she felt the same. He had never stopped and considered that she would not. And that, perhaps, was worse.  
  
“You’re right. It doesn’t. I…”  
  
He almost said ‘I should have realized’, but apparently that tiny spark of self-preservation he possessed was doing truly supernatural deeds today, because he managed to stop just in time.  
  
“I’m sorry, Maze.”  
  
His demon nodded, and yet another uncomfortable silence settled over them.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads up: there are some non-explicit mentions of bondage in this chapter, because Maze is being Maze and Lucifer has a dirty mind. Nothing of the kind actually happens, and I don't think the rating of the story needs to be raised. But if that kind of thing squicks anybody out, be warned that it is in there.
> 
> Also, there are a few swear words because again, Lucifer has a dirty mind.

Lucifer let his gaze travel around the room, once again struck by how much it felt like his former kingdom.  
  
“You did incredible work here, Maze. It really feels like Hell.”  
  
Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw her turn to him, her expression losing some of its tightness. An encouraging sign. Carefully not meeting her gaze, he went on, “when I first stepped through the door, I thought for a moment that I had passed through some kind of portal.”  
  
The barest hint of a pleased smile was curving the corners of Maze’s mouth. Lucifer decided to risk eye contact.  
  
“It really is fantastic, Maze. I can’t believe you managed to get all this done in just a few weeks. I mean, I know there are good craftspeople in this city, I know quite a few of them, but this is on a completely different level.”  
  
She was definitely smiling now, standing up straighter, buoyed by his praise. Slowly, the smile morphed into a smirk.  
  
“Let me guess: you want names and addresses.”  
  
“Yes please.” Lucifer smiled back. “Not that I want to copy you, of course. But I might have a commission or two of my own for some of them in the future.”  
  
Maze nodded, pleased. “I’ll add them to the list I’m sending you.”  
  
“Thank you.” His gaze returned once again to the bed. “This really is an incredible work of art.”  
  
Maze stepped up beside him, looking at it with proprietary pride, a smirk still playing on her lips. “Yeah. But it’s very practical, too.”  
  
Lucifer looked at her. Of all the possible words to describe this bed, ‘practical’ was probably the last one that would have come to his mind.  
  
Seeing his look, his demon’s smirk widened. “Oh yeah. It’s very sturdy. And the trees are very, very useful.” She raised her eyebrows significantly and licked her lips.  
  
“Oh?” Lucifer took another look at the iron trees, wondering what he had missed. They were definitely sturdy, despite the numerous little gaps all over the trunks. Gaps that were big enough to poke several fingers through them. Or a piece of rope or chain. Or, come to think of it, the metal ring of a handcuff. Oh.  
  
Bloody buggering hell. This wasn’t just a work of art, a reminiscence of Hell. This was a bondage fetishist’s most fevered dream. There were dozens, perhaps hundreds of ways you could tie someone up on this bed. You could probably even suspend them completely a foot or two above the mattress, hanging from those twisted branches. No, not probably. Definitely.  
  
Lucifer’s mind was painting him glorious, detailed pictures of what it would be like to be tied up there, hanging helplessly between the trees, silk ropes cutting into his skin, while Maze lay on the crimson sheets beneath him, just out of reach, tormenting him as only she could.  
  
A low, throaty chuckle sounded right next to his ear, and a hand ghosted over his shoulders and down to the spot right between his hidden wings. “Finally get it, do you?”  
  
He nodded, and her breath tickled the shell of his ear as she huffed out another laugh. “Want me to tie you up? Maybe suspend you right there over the mattress, so you get a good view of me? Or maybe I should tie you up the other way round, so that you’ll only be able to get glimpses of me up there in the mirror?”  
  
Oh fuck yes. He hadn’t even considered that last possibility.  
  
Lucifer opened his mouth to agree to Maze’s suggestion, any suggestion she might make, yes, please, right now. But something stopped him. That little voice of reason at the back of his mind was doing absolutely incredible work today.  
  
As pleasurable as letting Maze tie him to her fantastic bed and have her wicked way with him was no doubt going to be, it would be a distraction, and nothing more. And what would happen afterwards? Awkwardness. Perhaps even the feeling that it had been a mistake, further proof for her that he was only interested in his own pleasure.  
  
He closed his mouth again, swallowed, and did one of the hardest things he had ever done. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but no. I don’t think that would be a good idea right now.”  
  
Lucifer risked turning around and found Maze staring at him incredulously. “Are you serious?”  
  
“I’m afraid so, Maze.” He smiled deprecatingly.  
  
His demon scowled, and it suddenly occurred to him that she might take his restraint the wrong way.  
  
“Not that I don’t want… I mean, I’d love to have you tie me up and have your wicked way with me, of course I do. But we’re trying to solve your problem, right? If you want to engage in a bit of bondage fun afterwards, I’d be very happy to be at your service, if you want me to. But I don’t want you to feel like I distracted you from what you really wanted.”  
  
He held his breath as he waited for her reaction.  
  
Maze continued to glare suspiciously at him as she examined his words, perhaps looking for ulterior motives. Finally she nodded, accepting his explanation.  
  
“Maybe I’ll tie you up later. If you’ve solved my problem.”  
  
Lucifer smiled at her. “I’d like that.”  
  
His demon snorted and rolled her eyes, but the corners of her mouth curved up in a smirk. She knew better than anybody else just how much he liked their bedroom games.  
  
They stood there in silence for a moment, then Maze tilted her head towards the open door. “So, we’ve gotten the couch out of my living room. What now?”  
  
“Now we go and see how the room feels without it.”  
  
She scowled as she moved past him to the door. “I still say there is nothing wrong with the couch.”  
  
Lucifer rolled his eyes as he followed her out of the room. “I know, Maze. There doesn’t have to be anything wrong with it, in itself.”  
  
They stepped back into the living area, now empty except for the cupboard with the TV on it against the wall, and the low table which stood forlornly in the middle of the vast expanse of floor.  
  
Lucifer paused as soon as he was through the doorway, letting his gaze wander across the empty room, to the spiral staircase, over to the kitchen, and back to the remaining pieces of furniture. He concentrated, feeling the atmosphere, trying to detect any hint of the wrongness he has sensed earlier. Nothing.  
  
Maze had apparently reached the same conclusion.  
  
“It’s gone. There’s nothing wrong here anymore, just emptiness.”  
  
She said it almost accusingly.  
  
Lucifer nodded, his eyes still lingering on the table.  
  
“So you were right. It is the couch. Somehow.” Maze had her arms crossed in front of her, the tip of one stylish boot tapping irritably on the hardwood floor. “But I like that couch. I don’t want to get rid of it!”  
  
“Maybe that won’t be necessary.”    
  
“What?”  
  
“I’m not sure yet, it’s just a hunch. But I think you’re right, the couch isn’t the problem.” The longer Lucifer looked at the table, the more confident he became that he was on the right track. “Let’s take the table and the cupboard out, too.”  
  
“But-”  
  
Maze started to protest but he cut her off. “Trust me.”  
  
Seeing her deeply suspicious look, he rolled his eyes. “Just with this. Look, it won’t take us more than a minute or so to carry those two pieces out onto the landing. And if it helps us find a way so you can keep your couch, that’s worth it, isn’t it?”  
  
His demon considered that argument for a moment and then nodded grudgingly.  
  
It took them slightly more than a minute, since the TV needed to be unplugged and the toolbox relocated to the kitchen. Everything went smoothly, though. There was more than enough space out on the landing for the two pieces of furniture. Privately, Lucifer wondered if it wouldn’t be a good idea to leave them there. The cupboard at least could be useful, somewhere to put down stuff while dealing with the apartment’s door. But that would be up to Maze.  
  
He followed her back into the apartment and watched as she slowly turned around in the now completely empty living room space.  
  
“Nothing’s changed.” Maze’s tone was accusatory. “What am I supposed to do now?”  
  
Lucifer couldn’t quite suppress a grin. “Now, we get your couch back in here.”  
  
The scowl on his demon’s face and the way her fingers flexed as if desperate to hold her blades warned him that his cheery tone was not appreciated. The grin disappeared, replaced by a tentative smile. “Trust me?”  
  
Maze scowled a second longer, then threw up her hands in frustration. “Fine! Whatever.”  
  
She stalked over to her bedroom door, and Lucifer followed her hastily.  
  
The room’s infernal atmosphere was just as strong the second time. The incredible bed had lost nothing of its uncanniness and fascination either, and Lucifer found himself struggling not to get distracted again. Maze helped, though he doubted it was her intention. Having her standing there, scowling and tapping her foot impatiently as he got into position to lift his end of the couch, did wonders for his ability to focus.  
  
They managed to maneuver the segment of the couch back into the living area with only a modicum of struggle. Maze did make a point of closing the door behind herself as soon as they were through, and doing so with a certain emphasis.  
  
Getting the armchair, footstool and the second piece of the couch out of the bathroom was even easier, since that room didn’t offer the same amount of distractions. Lucifer patiently held the two pieces up while his demon connected them once again.  
  
He carefully set the assembled couch back onto its legs while Maze put away her toolbox. A quick glance around told him that the pieces of furniture were not quite back in their previous positions, but a little pushing here and there changed that. Satisfied that everything was as close to where it had been as possible, Lucifer took a few steps back and studied the room.


	10. Chapter 10

The absence of the low table made the seats look somewhat forlorn, and the lack of the cupboard with the TV as something to look at when you were sitting down only increased that sensation. But otherwise…  
  
“It’s gone.”  
  
Lucifer turned to find Maze standing by the partial wall that separated kitchen and living area. She was staring in his direction - though not at him - her eyes open wide, her expression stunned, half disbelieving, half hopeful. As he watched she stalked over to the little group of furniture, circling it slowly, her whole body tense and coiled to spring at the slightest provocation, a warrior looking for any trace of an enemy who has suddenly vanished.  
  
“It’s gone. How…”  
  
Before Lucifer could say anything, Maze’s brows drew together in a thoughtful frown. He remained silent as her gaze traveled over the black leather of the couch, then flickered to the door of the apartment, and finally settled on him.  
  
“The table and the cupboard. They were the problem. Somehow. But they were here first, and they were fine!” Her eyes narrowed for a moment. “How did you know?”  
  
“I didn’t. Not really. It was just a hunch, an intuition.”  
  
Maze was still staring at him suspiciously, so Lucifer did his best to explain further. “You said that the couch and so on had been fine in the workshop. And, well, when we put them in the other room, I didn’t sense any wrongness there. And yes, it could have just been something about them in here, in this specific space. But when I first saw them here, I thought they looked good. The wrongness crept in later.”  
  
He paused, trying to work out how his spontaneous, instinctive conviction that the other pieces of furniture were the culprits had come about.  
  
“When you said that the table and cupboard had been here when you got the place, I guess I started wondering. They’re good pieces, solid, well made. Why were they left here?”  
  
“You think they’re… cursed or something?”  
  
Lucifer smiled at that idea. “Nothing quite so dramatic. But I think the previous owner might have run into the same problem, and found that those two pieces didn’t fit in with their other furniture.”  
  
His demon was still frowning, but now more thoughtfully, less suspicious. “They didn’t look bad in here, even with the couch and all. They didn’t clash.”  
  
He nodded. “No, they didn’t. That’s what made this so hard to figure out. Even now, I don’t feel entirely sure that they really are the culprits, because my mind keeps telling me that there’s nothing wrong with them.”  
  
“Yeah.” Maze nodded and remained silent for a second. Then her mouth twisted. “What if it’s not them after all? What if the wrongness comes back even without them?”  
  
Lucifer hastened to reassure her. “I don’t think it will, Maze.”  
  
“But what if it does?” Maze was clearly not in the mood to be reassured.  
  
“Then I will help you figure out another solution. But I really don’t think it will come to that.” Seeing that his words were not enough to stop his demon from worrying, he added: “We could make a little test, if you want to.”  
  
Maze arched an inquiring eyebrow.  
  
“Let’s bring the table back in and see if the wrongness returns.”  
  
He watched her consider the suggestion for a second before nodding in agreement. “Alright.”  
  
“Excellent. Wait here.”  
  
And with that, Lucifer was striding towards the apartment’s door. He heard his demon give a huff behind him, but it sounded more amused than annoyed to him.  
  
When he returned seconds later with the table, Maze was leaning against the wall where the cupboard had been, arms crossed, studying the empty space between the couch and the armchair. She looked up when he approached and very deliberately rolled her eyes as he set the small table down with a flourish. Then her attention returned to the group of furniture in front of her.  
  
Lucifer took a few steps backwards until he was standing beside her, and followed her gaze. Now that he knew what he was looking for, the subtle dissonance between the pieces was easy to spot. He shot a quick glance at his demon.  
  
Maze had tilted her head, a frown wrinkling her brow. She took several steps to the side, paused, stared intently at the seating area, then moved a few steps more and paused again. As Lucifer watched, she slowly circled the area until she stood on his other side. Only then did she pull her attention away from the furniture and glance at him.  
  
They exchanged a wordless look. Lucifer could tell that she was feeling the wrongness just as much as he did. It scraped against their senses like fingernails lightly scratching over a chalkboard.  
  
Maze nodded decisively. “Take it away again.”  
  
Lucifer grinned at her peremptory tone. “As you wish.”  
  
When he returned to the living area after putting the table out in the hallway, his demon was sitting on the couch, one arm flung over the back, staring thoughtfully into space. She roused when he approached, and did not object when he sat down next to her.  
  
“I’ll ask Juan and Tarik to make me a new couch table, and something for the TV.”  
  
“I’m sure they will have no problem building you something that fits these lovely pieces-,” he ran a hand over the supple leather of the couch, “-much better than those two troublemakers. Do you have plans for what you’re going to do with them yet?”  
  
Maze shrugged. “I’ll get rid of them. Throw them out.”  
  
Lucifer didn’t say anything, but he couldn’t stop himself from pursing his lips. She noticed of course.  
  
“What?”  
  
He smiled deprecatingly. “I just thought it would be a shame to destroy them. They’re good furniture, even though they didn’t fit in here. Maybe you can use them somewhere else?”  
  
His demon grimaced. “I don’t think so. And I’m not sure I could stand to keep them now. I don’t think they’d feel right for me anywhere.” She case a sidelong glance at him and then averted her eyes again, almost as if she regretted admitting such a weakness.  
  
“I can understand that.” Lucifer nodded in sympathy, doing his best to reassure her. “Still, seems a shame to destroy them. Maybe your furniture makers would like them?”  
  
“Don’t know. I can ask them. Maybe they’ll know someone who’ll want them if they don’t.”  
  
“And if not, let me know. I’m sure I can find someone who will take them.”  
  
Maze nodded and they lapsed into silence. For the first time, it was a comfortable one, reminding Lucifer of times in the past when they had been content to simply be near each other. Contrary to what their friends or his brother might think, his relationship with his demon had never been primarily a physical one. Oh, the physical aspects had certainly been an important part, but so had the fact that Maze had always understood him. She had been the only being in Hell who he could really talk to. And she had never been afraid to talk back, voicing her opinions even when they didn't agree with his own. Maybe especially when they didn't agree. Maze had always seemed to enjoy arguing with him.  
  
“Thanks.”  
  
Lucifer gazed at Maze in surprise, partly because he hadn’t expected her to be the first to say something, and partly because he was surprised that she would be thanking anybody, much less him.  
  
Seeing his surprise, his demon apparently felt it necessary to elaborate.  
  
“For, you know.” She waved a hand, vaguely encompassing the whole living area, and their recent actions.  
  
“You’re welcome. And thank you. For, you know.”  
  
He imitated her gesture, earning a mildly annoyed huff and an eye roll.  
  
“Seriously though, Maze, thanks for letting me help you. And for giving me another chance.”  
  
She shrugged, but Lucifer could tell that it was not a dismissal of his words. Maze was never keen on emotional talk. Neither was he. It was one of the many things they had in common, that made them such a great team in the past. And, hopefully, the future.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this last chapter turned out much longer than the others, but Maze and Lucifer had a lot to discuss, and I couldn't see any way to break this up into two chapters. So there you have it.

After a few moments, his demon tilted her head inquiringly. “So, do you want me to tie you up and have my wicked way with you now?”  
  
A seductive smirk was curving up her lips, warning everyone who saw it that taking her up on her offer meant playing with fire and almost certainly getting burned, but also intimating that it would be worth it.   
  
Lucifer’s mind immediately jumped back to her fantastic bed and its myriad possibilities. It was tempting. So very, very tempting. But…  
  
“Please don’t take this the wrong way, but could we maybe skip the fun times? Or reschedule? If you want to do it, some other time.”  
  
Maze arched her scarred eyebrow, prompting him to explain. “Not that I wouldn’t love to let you torture me in all the best ways, but, well…”  
  
“What, you have a burning desire to get back to your paperwork?”   
  
The words made Lucifer groan, but his demon’s teasing tone gave him hope. She wasn’t offended by his rejection, however temporary it was. He had every intention of taking her up on her offer in the near future, if she was still willing to do it then. But right now, he really didn’t feel like it. And he had no idea why.  
  
“Ugh, don’t remind me. Though hopefully, with your help I will be able to find a new accountant who can take care of all that.”  
  
Maze sank back into the soft leather of the couch and fished her mobile phone out of her pocket. Lucifer watched as she tapped away at it for a little while before putting it away again, and then felt his own phone vibrate in his pocket as a message came in.  
  
Maze smiled. “The list of accountants.”  
  
Lucifer returned the smile with one of his own. “Thank you.”  
  
He watched as she nodded in acknowledgment and seemed to relax even further, practically melting into the supremely comfortable seating, the last vestiges of tension flowing away. Realization struck.  
  
Maze had still been tense after they solved her problem. She had been tense when she offered fun bondage times. Only now, after he had turned her offer down, had she relaxed.  
  
Had she made that offer as a repayment for his help? He wasn’t sure, and frankly was afraid to ask. The idea that Maze would consider his help something that needed to be paid for…  
  
He pushed the unpleasant thought away. In any case, it seemed that for once he had done the right thing where his demon was concerned. Perhaps he was finally getting the hang of this being a good friend thing.  
  
Lucifer let his gaze wander around the half-furnished room, wondering what to do next. They had solved the problem he had come here to solve. There was nothing more for him to do here, but he didn’t want to leave. He wanted to spend more time with Maze.  
  
In the end, he chose a tried and risky strategy. “Can I ask you something?”  
  
His demon arched her scarred eyebrow, but remained silent. Seeing the spark of wariness in her gaze, Lucifer added: “You don’t have to answer, of course.”  
  
She smirked at that, but nodded her consent.  
  
“You said you’re getting a dining table for the empty space over there.” He gestured towards the kitchen. “Do you have plans for the corners here, too?” This time his hand waved vaguely towards the two closed doors.  
  
Maze lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. “I’ve been thinking of installing a small bar in one corner, maybe a reading nook in the other. Haven’t really decided yet.”  
  
Lucifer wisely decided not to say anything about the second idea, no matter how surprising it was to hear his demon casually use the words ‘reading nook’. As far as he knew, Maze wasn’t exactly a big reader. She usually preferred more active - or at least visual - forms of entertainment.  
  
“A bar would come in handy, if you decide to have the occasional party.”  
  
“That was the idea, yes.”  
  
They lapsed into silence again. Lucifer was just wondering if he should risk another question when Maze straightened a bit.  
  
“Want me to drive you back home?”  
  
Lucifer couldn’t suppress a grimace at hearing exactly the suggestion he had been trying to avoid. His demon laughed.  
  
“Not keen on confronting the paperwork again?”  
  
“No.” His fervent answer provoked another light laugh. He decided to take it as encouragement, and risk all. “I’d much rather spend a bit more time with you.”  
  
Maze’s expression went blank, and he held his breath and steeled himself for rejection.  
  
After a few seconds, she leaned back and arched an eyebrow. “You want to spend time with me. But you don’t want any fun with ropes.” She sounded politely disbelieving.  
  
Lucifer smiled ruefully and nodded. “I know, it’s hard to believe. But at the risk of sounding like some sort of third rate pick-up artist, I just want to spend time with you and get to know you.” He lowered his gaze, chagrin coloring his voice. “Recent events have made it crystal clear that I have been very deficient in that area.”  
  
Maze remained disconcertingly quiet for a long moment, making him fear that he had once again managed to ruin things between them. Then she inhaled deeply and blew the breath out again.  
  
“So, what, you want to just sit here and talk?”  
  
Lucifer nodded, not yet daring to hope.  
  
“About what?”  
  
He shrugged. “Anything you want to talk about. Things you like, things you did, things you want to do, anything.”  
  
“And I’m supposed to tell you all that to satisfy your nosiness?”  
  
“It’s not nosiness!”   
  
Lucifer took a deep breath and tried to keep his temper in check. Of course, Maze had always known just what buttons to push to rile him up and set him off. He didn’t think she was doing it deliberately, at least not at the moment. It was just part of her demonic instincts. But he really couldn’t afford to let her get to him like that right now.  
  
“I’m interested in you, Maze. I want to get to know you.”  
  
She scowled. “We’ve known each other for millennia.”  
  
He nodded guiltily. “Yes. But it seems that in all that time I didn’t actually get to know you as well as I should have.  And that is my fault,” he went on hastily before she could take offense, “and I want to correct that.”  
  
She was still giving him dark looks, and he was surprised she hadn’t shot his suggestion down already. The fact that they were still arguing gave him hope.  
  
“What if I don’t want to sit here and satisfy your nosiness?”  
  
Lucifer bit his lip. He should have expected this. “Then you don’t have to. We could do something else, something you want to do. Anything you like.”  
  
“Anything, except sex, apparently.” Maze crossed her arms and arched her scarred eyebrow.  
  
It seemed that his rejection had stung more than Lucifer had realized, for all that Maze had perhaps not really been in the mood either. He sighed.   
  
“Mazikeen.” He hesitated for a split second, and then went on, “If you want to have naked fun with me right now, I’m all yours. If that is what you truly desire.”  
  
“You just said you didn’t want to have naked fun with me, and now you suddenly do?” Her disbelief was clear.  
  
“Yes. No.” Lucifer sighed again when she scowled. “I’m not… It’s just…” He took a deep breath and tried to explain the jumble of thoughts and feelings in his head. “It’s not that I don’t desire you. I do. Always. Because you’re hot, and sexy, and absolutely gorgeous, stunning, magnificent. And I know all the wickedly wonderful things you could do to me.”  
  
“But…” Maze prompted when he lapsed into silence.  
  
“But, I just… I don’t think giving in to that desire right now would be a good idea.” He stared at her with all the sincerity he could muster. “I don’t want us to fall back into old patterns.”  
  
That got his demon’s attention. Her scowl morphed into a thoughtful frown, and her arms slowly relaxed until her hands were resting loosely in her lap. Lucifer bit his lip and mustered what little patience he possessed as he waited for her reaction.  
  
Finally, Maze nodded. “Alright. I don’t want to fall back into bad old habits either.”  
  
His sigh of relief earned him a sharp look. “Doesn’t mean I want to talk about my feelings with you.”  
  
“Of course not. And that’s not what I want. I mean-” he corrected himself quickly as her eyebrow rose, “I’d be happy and honored if you’d choose to confide in me about your feelings, but I know that’s not something you like to do.”  
  
And getting into such intimate topics would be fraught with dangers. Given his recent run at saying the wrong thing, Lucifer didn’t like to contemplate the consequences if Maze were to get emotional right now.  
  
“What do you expect me to talk about then?”  
  
“Anything you like. It doesn’t have to be big or important, or serious. You could tell me about your day, or your bounty hunts, or we could talk about all these stupid rules humans have and just expect you to know…” He grinned at Maze’s derisive snort and they shared a look, united for a moment in their confusion and exasperation over humanity and its idiosyncrasies.  
  
“So you’re going to do some of the talking, too?” Maze looked relieved. “Because I’m not in the mood for being your entertainment here.”  
  
“What? No, that’s not, I mean this isn’t about me getting entertained I want-”  
  
“-to get to know me, yes, you said so. Still sounds like you expect me to do all the work.”  
  
Lucifer froze. Was that what he was doing? Was he expecting Maze to do all the work necessary for him to get to know her better?   
  
Oh shit. He was, wasn’t he. Once again, he had failed to consider her side of things. Okay, he had considered her rejecting his request outright, but he hadn’t thought about how that request would look to her. He wanted to know more about her, so he had asked that she tell him. He was practically demanding information from her, personal information, information that he had absolutely no right to demand. At least, that’s what this had to look like for his demon.  
  
And that was wrong. A true friend wouldn’t act like that. A true friend would respect her privacy, and let her choose what to share, and be happy about anything she shared, anything at all. And if she decided not to share, then a true friend would accept that, and understand.  
  
Especially when that true friend was dealing with a demon, one who had learned the value - and power, and danger - of information through long and often painful experience.   
  
“I’m sorry, Mazikeen. It wasn’t my intention, but you’re right. I was expecting you to just tell me things I don’t have any right to know unless you wish to tell me.” He laughed mirthlessly. “I keep fucking up this whole friend thing, don’t I.”  
  
To his surprise, Maze’s expression softened. “Yeah, you do.”  
  
Lucifer flinched. It was the truth, but that didn’t make her blunt confirmation hurt any less.  
  
“It’s not like I was expecting anything else.” Maze shrugged, ignoring his pained grimace. “Actually, you’re doing better than I thought. I can see that you’re really making an effort. I guess you deserve points for that.”  
  
This made Lucifer look up hopefully.  
  
His demon rolled her eyes at him, but the corners of her mouth were curving upwards in a smirk. “After all, you have a lot of natural disadvantages to overcome.”  
  
“Huh?”  
  
“I’m talking of that strong family trait of being a self-centered jerk.”  
  
“I’m not… I…” Lucifer faltered, the denials dying on his lips.  
  
Maze’s smirk softened into a sympathetic smile. “It’s not your fault your parents are both completely selfish assholes, and raised you lot accordingly.”  
  
“Unlike your mother.” He cursed himself the second the words escaped him. Lilith was most emphatically not a subject he should have brought up right now. Or ever. “I’m sorry.”  
  
His demon’s expression had turned stony at the mention of her mother, but now she quirked her lips again. “That’s the third time you said that today and you actually mean it. I’m impressed. Normally you never apologize.”  
  
Lucifer nodded. “I do mean it. And I’m trying to be better than I was.”  
  
“I know. That’s why I’m giving you another chance.” She rolled her eyes and smiled wryly. “Well, that and I promised Trix. She really wants us to be all friends together, and I know she’s been giving you pointers. So I guess I have to do my part to help with that.”  
  
“You are a great friend, Mazikeen. The small human and I are very lucky to have you.”  
  
Maze averted her gaze and bit her lip, apparently uncomfortable with the praise. Lucifer could make an educated guess why.  
  
“As a very wise human told me, we all fuck up sometimes. It’s what we do afterwards that counts. You apologized, and I know you’ve been doing everything you can to make up for hurting her, however inadvertently. And Beatrice knows it, too. She has forgiven you, Maze. That means you’re allowed to forgive yourself.”  
  
His demon cast a quick glance at him before looking away and biting her lip again. After a moment she nodded hesitantly.  
  
Lucifer exhaled slowly and relaxed. She had accepted his advice, his attempt at offering comfort. What’s more, he could see that she was unsure, struggling with the idea of forgiveness. He could relate. But the fact that she was willing to let him see this struggle… It was a display of trust he hadn’t expected. It nourished his hope.  
  
After another thoughtful moment of silence, Maze suddenly tensed and shot him a sharp look.  
  
“Please tell me the very wise human was Trix, and not-” She broke off, unwilling to name the other human likely to have given Lucifer this type of advice.  
  
He knew at once what she was driving at, and shook his head reassuringly. “No, it was the Detective’s offspring.” He paused for a second, wondering if he was about to betray a confidence. Probably not. The little human would want him to reassure their friend. “We talk about you occasionally, when she’s giving me her friendship lessons. Not talk-talk, not gossip, just…She’s telling me how to be a better friend generally, but also specifically a better friend to you.”  
  
Maze nodded, and then tilted her head inquiringly. “And she told you that I need to forgive myself?”  
  
“Well, she didn’t say that part, exactly, but it’s clear from some of the other things she told me that she wouldn’t want you to go on beating yourself up over what happened.”  
  
Lucifer watched as Maze nodded thoughtfully, staring at the windows. Abruptly she turned back to him and arched an eyebrow. “Did she really say that we all _fuck up_ sometimes?”  
  
“Actually yes, she did.” Lucifer grinned widely, remembering the scene. “She sort of looked around to make sure nobody else was near before using ‘the f-word’-” the air quotes were clearly audible, “- even though we were quite alone, but yes, she did say it exactly like that.”  
  
Maze grinned, obviously pleased. Lucifer gave her a questioning look. She shook her head and explained, “Decker is completely stuck up about not using ‘bad language’, as if saying a few curse words were the worst someone could do.”  
  
Lucifer had to smile at her derisive tone. “True. I remember that swear jar of hers.”  
  
His demon scoffed. “Did she tell you what I said to her when she tried to make me pay into that thing?”  
  
“No, she neglected to share that information. You refused, of course.” It was not a question.  
  
“Told her if she ever suggested something like that again I would shove that thing up her arse, if there was still any room, what with the giant stick she’s got lodged in there on a permanent basis. That shut her up.” She smirked, self-satisfied.  
  
Lucifer chuckled. “And you’ve been encouraging her offspring to defy her rules ever since?”  
  
Maze twitched a noncommittal shoulder. “Just made it clear that I wasn’t going to censor myself, and told Trix she should decide for herself if she wanted to follow her mother’s rules even when they’re stupid. Good to know she listened to me and made up her own mind.”  
  
“Independent thinking instead of blind obedience. Excellent advice. She’s lucky to have you as a friend.” He hesitated for a second, then added, “We’re both lucky to have you as a friend.”  
  
This time, his demon accepted the compliment with a tiny smile.   
  
After a few moments of companionable silence, Maze took a deep breath and turned to him. “Listen, about this whole me telling you things about myself thing, can we postpone that? I don’t have enough booze in the house to deal with it right now.”  
  
“Of course. I’ll be happy to listen whenever you are ready. It’s entirely up to you. You don’t have to do anything if you don’t want to, Maze.” Then the second part of what she said registered. “You think we’ll need booze for that talk?”  
  
Maze arched an eyebrow. “You don’t?”  
  
Lucifer considered the question. “Alright, you do have a point.” He hesitated again. “You know, I have plenty of excellent alcohol at the penthouse, and if we need more there’s always Lux’ stores downstairs. So, whenever you want to talk, we could do it at my place. No need for you to go to the trouble of stocking up for it.”    
  
He watched as Maze pursed her lips, considering the suggestion. When she neither agreed nor rejected it, he offered an alternative: “Or we could find a bar somewhere. Neutral ground, so to speak.”  
  
Maze arched an eyebrow, clearly surprised by that idea. Lucifer smiled wryly. “Going out for drinks is an appropriate thing to do among friends, isn’t it? Plus, if things end in violence, neither of us will need to deal with contractors in the home to repair the damage.”  
  
“You expect us having a friendly talk over drinks to end in violence?”  
  
“I think it’s a possibility. You don’t?”  
  
His demon shrugged, her lips twisting in a way that Lucifer took as her conceding the point.  
  
“I seem to recall stories about a bar fight the last time you went out for drinks with friends,” he remarked lightheartedly, then immediately cursed himself, remembering a second too late just who those friends had been.  
  
Maze scowled at the unwelcome reminder, but after a moment she scoffed. “Wasn’t me who started that fight.”  
  
“I know,” Lucifer smiled, relieved that she was letting his most recent fuck-up slide. “But from what Miss Lopez told me, despite being drunk, you wiped the floor with your opponents without any apparent effort. She was quite… vocal in her appreciation of your fighting prowess when I got her to recount the details to me.”   
  
He wisely left off any mention that Dr. Martin had been similarly impressed by his demon’s skills, and he certainly wasn’t going to tell her about the Detective’s very grudging admission that Maze had saved their collective asses that night.  
  
Maze arched an eyebrow and smirked. “Did she now. Huh. She wasn’t bad herself, you know. She has a pretty nasty streak and a surprisingly mean punch, for a nerd. At least when she’s drunk. Too bad she’s such a big fan of your dad.”  
  
“I try not to hold that against her. And I have to say, in her defense, she doesn’t appear to have bought the propaganda about me.”  
  
His demon nodded. “Yeah. And I guess she’s mostly not obnoxious about it, unlike most.”   
  
She paused a second, and then changed the subject. “So, are you planning to start any bar fights if we go out for drinks? Could be fun.”  
  
Lucifer laughed. “Well, I’m not planning to start anything, but you’re right. A little fight now and then could be fun.” He enjoyed the idea for a bit, until he considered the possible consequences. “But I think the LAPD would look askance if we went around wrecking bars.”  
  
“And we care about that why?” Maze asked rhetorically. “Oh, right. You’re worried because Decker will throw a fit.”  
  
“I do like my job as an LAPD consultant, Maze, and I want to keep it.”  
  
“Don’t worry. She’ll bitch and moan, but she won’t stop working with you.” She paused, then added thoughtfully, “unless of course she decides that she’d rather work with her boyfriend. They have been teaming up quite a bit lately, haven’t they?”  
  
Lucifer grimaced. It was true, Pierce had called the Detective in to assist in several operations where they were working together with other departments, or in one case the LAPD. And on each of these occasions, it had been made clear that his presence was not needed or wanted.  
  
The Detective had argued that these joint operations were a necessary evil, and that it was important for her career that she participated, but Lucifer couldn’t help recalling the triumphant glow she had had after the last successful one, or how he had overheard her gushing about it to Miss Lopez.  
  
He looked up to find Maze gazing at him with sympathy, and even something close to an apology in her eyes. She seemed to regret having brought up this painful subject.  
  
Lucifer shrugged. “You’re right. However, the Detective has assured me that we will remain partners despite her decision to get romantically involved with Pierce, and I have no intention of giving that up.”  
  
“And if she does decide to end your partnership, there are plenty of other cops at the precinct who would love to work with you.”  
  
“I know. But it wouldn’t be the same.”  
  
“Doesn’t mean it would be bad. could work in your favor, having a partner who doesn’t make you vulnerable.” She stretched out her arms along the back of the couch, the fingertips of her right hand brushing casually against his shoulder. “Anyway, it’s all hypothetical right now. She hasn’t ended your partnership yet.”  
  
“True.” Lucifer sighed, and slowly tilted his head until it rested against Maze’s hand. His demon allowed the contact for a few seconds, then carefully pulled her hand away. Just as he was wondering if he had once again messed things up between them, she shifted slightly and ran her fingers through his hair, stroking him gently, offering him the physical comfort he hadn’t quite realized he craved.  
  
They sat there quietly for several long minutes, until a sudden rumbling from Lucifer’s midsection broke the companionable silence. He smiled sheepishly as Maze stared at him, both eyebrows drawn up high.  
  
“I skipped lunch today.”  
  
“Want me to order us something? There’s a decent pizza delivery two streets over,” she offered.  
  
Lucifer hesitated. Pizza with Maze sounded wonderful, but he had a better idea. “Why don’t we go and find a nice little restaurant somewhere? Wouldn’t want to risk grease stains on this lovely leather.”  
  
“Are you asking me out to dinner?”  
  
Her tone was teasing, the corners of her mouth curving up in a smirk. Lucifer grinned in response. “If you want to. Strictly as friends, of course.” Seeing her brows begin to draw together, he added, “Unless that’s not what you want?”  
  
“Is that what you want? For us to be strictly friends?” She was definitely frowning now. “I thought you wanted us to have naked fun some other time.”  
  
“I do! If you want to, I mean.”  
  
They stared at each other, each wondering what the other one truly wanted. Finally, Maze broke the impasse.  
  
“What do you want, Lucifer?” She smirked, but there was no amusement behind it. “What do you desire?”  
  
“I want us to be friends.” He saw the way her expression grew blank, hiding her emotions, and added hastily, “And I want us to be more than that. I want us to have naked fun together, to be lovers, and partners, and everything in between. But I think the most important thing is that we are friends. That should be the basis for everything else.” He lowered his gaze, and his voice. “I think that’s where we went wrong last time. Where I went wrong. I don’t want to make the same mistake again, Mazikeen.”  
  
After several tense, silent seconds, he risked turning his head and found her regarding him with an inscrutable expression. Just as the first threads of panic wound around his heart, Maze nodded decisively.   
  
“Sounds like a good plan. So, where are you taking me?”  
  
She smirked at his dumbfounded expression. “For dinner.”  
  
“Oh. Dinner, right.” Lucifer tried to calm his racing heart, and come up with an answer for her question. His mind remained blank, too busy sorting out his emotions at Maze’s acceptance. He fell back to the old standby. “Where would you like me to take you? What do you desire?”  
  
His demon snorted at that clichéd question, especially from him, and shook her head. “Don’t really care. There’s a decent Indian restaurant four blocks from here. Or we could go to that Mexican place you like.”  
  
“Sol the Xavier? Hm, it’s a possibility, Junior’s not quite as excellent as his father was, but he’s getting there and doing very well for himself.” He considered the possibilities. “Indian sounds good, though. Haven’t had that in a while. But I invited you. You should decide.”   
  
She shrugged. “Indian’s fine by me. I like their mango chicken, and the ginger naan. And they have that sweet rice cooked in milk with spices, almonds and fruit for dessert.”  
  
“Sounds delicious. Indian it is, then. Let’s go.”  
  
Lucifer rose and held out his hand. Maze allowed him to pull her to her feet, and then led the way to the door.   
  
They took the stairs down to the ground floor, and quickly got into her car. The big door slid open as Maze started the engine, and Lucifer was forced to brace himself against the dashboard as she reversed out onto the street in her usual abrupt manner, barely waiting until the door had opened wide enough to allow the car through.   
  
He cast a last look at his demon’s new home as she changed gears and then shot accelerated down the street. The building hid its secrets well. Nothing on the outside hinted at the treasures within. Lucifer wondered when he would next get the chance to visit. He hoped it would be soon.

THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not promising anything, but I do have one or two ideas for further installments in this series. I'll have to see where my inspiration leads me, though. And there are all the other WIPs and plotbunnies that are vying for my attention.


End file.
